A door slammed next door. When Moonbeam reappeared and stared at him, he ran his fingers along her spine before edging up to the window to look out. A man stood in Adam’s front yard, staring at his house. Adam had expected a few curious souls to come around, but not on such a gloomy night. When he heard the man talking outside the door, he wondered if there was more than one person, then remembered Romeo was still outside and swung the door open.
“Hey.” The man straightened up from petting the shepherd. “I’m Cal Carson. You met my brother and sister and dad the other day.”
Cal’s face was narrower than Sylvie’s and Dusty’s, and he had only a sprinkling of blond in his short, brown hair. He looked intelligent around his eyes, which were as bright blue as the rest of his family’s, but they held a hardness that hinted at disappointment.
“Adam Hunter. Come on in.” Adam shook Cal’s hand and stood back to let him through the door. Romeo brushed past him with hardly a wag, probably miffed to find Moonbeam hanging around.
“You babysitting Sylvie’s cat?” Cal nodded at Moonbeam, who sat on the old trunk that he was using as a coffee table. The old, battered furniture that had come with the house was what you’d expect to find in a neglected summer home. He planned to replace it at some point, but it served its purpose for now.
“Nah. Rom and Moonbeam haven’t worked things out between them yet. Sylvie keeps the cat in during the day so Romeo can stay outside, and she lets it out at night. It’s lousy out tonight. So...” He ran his hand over Moonbeam again.
Cal smirked. “That bit of fluff can come and go as she pleases. She’s got a cat door. She’s just taking advantage of you. Give them enough rope, they all do.”
Ouch. Sounded like the guy had been burned recently. “Want a beer?”
“Sure. Sylvie says you’re looking for help to do some renovations.” Cal followed him out to the kitchen, where Adam grabbed a couple of beers from the ancient green refrigerator.
He handed one to Cal. “That’s right. I’m in a race against the weather at this time of year, but I’d like to get a new roof on, replace some windows before it gets too bad. Ideally I’d like to replace all the windows and doors.”
Cal looked around the room while Adam took a saucer from the cupboard and poured some milk into it for the cat. He wouldn’t blame Cal if he turned and walked out the door. Wood flooring showed through the worn linoleum in front of the green stove and rust-stained, white enamel sink. The cupboards were made of plywood, painted a nonintrusive beige. It was the largest room in the house, but unfortunately one third of the country kitchen had been walled off for a mudroom.
“What kind of roofing are you thinking about?”
“Metal. I checked out a couple places today, got some costs.”
“I could probably get you a better price.”
“You’re free to do the renos?”
Cal’s mouth tightened at the corners. “I am now.” He drank deeply and set his bottle on the table with a thunk. “Let’s take a closer look at the rest of the house. Tell me what you have in mind. One thing, though.” He scowled at Adam. “I take the job, I’m the foreman. I don’t mind if you want to help. Matter of fact, that would be good ’cause it’s hard to scare up a crew at this time of year. Have you done much building?”
“Not much but I learn fast.”
Cal narrowed his eyes as if trying to bring him into focus. “Most people wouldn’t move to an isolated village like Collina and take on a project like this. Do you always jump in with both feet?”
Adam smiled as if Cal had made a joke. “Not always.” Only when it felt as if his life depended on it.
“You win the lottery or something?”
He relaxed his tight grip on the beer bottle. At least he got to tell the truth with this one. “I inherited both of my grandmother’s properties, but I’m not interested in living in the States, so I sold that house and decided to renovate this one.”
He still hadn’t forgiven himself that he’d been in jail and not free to attend her funeral last year. When he was a kid, he couldn’t wait to leave Toronto in the summer to visit his gram. He’d always felt safe with her. Both his parents had such mercurial moods, but Gram was always the same. Kind and loving, and when he was with her, he felt good about himself. He’d often daydreamed about what life would be like if he lived with her, but then who would have taken care of his mother? Their visits had always been too brief, and once he hit his teenage years...she wouldn’t have wanted him around, anyway. Thank God those years were behind him.
When he discovered she’d left both houses to him, he invested the money from the sale of her house in Maine before his mother could find a way to get her hands on the cash. She’d burn through it in a few months, which was probably why Gram had named him her heir. When, and if, his mom wanted to get clean, he’d made sure to put aside enough money to help her.
“You think I can take that wall out without the whole floor falling down on me?” he asked, shifting the conversation to safer ground. He outlined what he wanted to do with the kitchen, inquired how many walls he could knock out and what Cal’s rate was.
He couldn’t stop grinning when they’d gone over the entire house. His dream was coming together. It was finally happening. Cal was an okay guy, a bit grim, but Adam thought they’d work together just fine. He certainly sounded knowledgeable when it came to renovations.
“No reason not to start tomorrow,” Cal said. “I’ll order the steel for the roof. We can start stripping the old shingles off first thing in the morning. Shouldn’t take too long, it’s a small roof.” His eyes roamed over the living room. “You’ll never get back the amount of money you’re planning to invest in this house. We’re too far away from everything. Not a lot of people are interested in moving here. Hell, most of the young people move away first chance they get.”
Adam nodded. “It’s not an investment thing for me.” Not financially. “I appreciate you bringing it up, though. Thanks.”
“One more thing.” Cal pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. “You know anything about this?”
Adam took the wrinkled paper. Holy! It was a pencil sketch of him doing tai chi in his backyard. Pretty hard to pretend it was of anyone else. The artist had gotten his broken nose exactly right. A thrill shot through him before the horror set in. Had Sylvie done this? “Where did you find it?”
“You didn’t know Sylvie was drawing you?”
“No.” He passed the sketch back to Cal. “She’s good enough to make a living from her drawings?” The drawing was good, not the best he’d ever seen, but what did he know about art? What he should be concentrating on was damage control. He didn’t want Cal to think he’d been coming on to Sylvie. Hell, he didn’t want him to think he’d even looked at his sister.
“She had quite the career going, but then Pops had his heart attack and things have been pretty rough for her the last few months. She stopped painting ’cause—I don’t know why. I don’t think she does, either. But this—” He fluttered the sketch in the air. “This is the only thing I’ve seen her draw in weeks.” He studied Adam. “So, what’s the deal?”
“Deal?” Adam choked out as he watched his plans sink out of sight. Finding a contractor with an open schedule at this time of year was a blessing. Finding one right in the village was a miracle. He knew Sylvie was trouble the minute he’d laid eyes on her.
The Carson men weren’t going to be happy about a stranger cozying up to their angel. Especially someone like him. He was the first to admit he’d done some stupid things in his life. He wasn’t perfect; he had issues. But he had to believe if he kept working at it, someday he would become a good man. Right now his dreams were